Legislator Norma L. Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) yesterday voted to appropriate a $2,500 grant to be used by the Nassau County Traffic Safety Board in relation to children's safety while in automobiles. The state funded grant will be used in the statewide "Child Passenger Safety" program. The program, established by current New York State Governor George E. Pataki is designed to teach parents how to properly use children's car restraints. "Car seats are very important to in saving the lives of children but at the same time they can become very dangerous if a child is fastened improperly," said Legislator Gonsalves.

The grant will go towards setting up a fitting station where parents can go to be instructed how to correctly install a child's seat and how to safely restrain a child in that seat. When used correctly, a child safety seat can reduce the risk of fatal injury by up to 71% and hospitalization by 67%, however misuse greatly reduced those numbers and may often lead to injuries. More than 90% of child safety seats used today are improperly used despite the efforts of the parents. "If this program instructs one parent how to install a seat properly and ends up saving one child's life than this program will be considered a success," added Legislator Gonsalves.